


This Is Where That Ends

by romanticalgirl



Series: Crowded Room [9]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Idiots in Love, M/M, Mistaken Identity, Non-Serum Steve Rogers/Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes | Shrinkyclinks, Unhappy birthday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romanticalgirl/pseuds/romanticalgirl
Summary: After arguments and foreplay and so many near-misses, Bucky and Steve finally have a chance. Maybe. If alien invasions and stuff would stop happening.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Series: Crowded Room [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1121862
Comments: 25
Kudos: 104





	This Is Where That Ends

***

Steve stays in the Tower. He doesn’t plan to, he just doesn’t want to be gone in case there’s an update. Given how few and far between they are, he should just go home, but the last time he did – just to grab some clothes – there’d been a call from Natasha and Clint in Yugoslavia. FRIDAY had shown him a recording, but he has questions he would have asked them.

He knows they’re spread thin over the world, so asking how Bucky was wouldn’t have actually gotten him an answer, but he still would have asked. Of course, knowing that, it’s probably best that he wasn’t there.

He spends most of his days helping Pepper facilitate relief efforts in places where the rips in the sky have open and shut. Not that it’s helped much given that FRIDAY, Banner, Stark, Jean Grey, Reed Richards, and Professor Xavier finally determine that the rips are holes in space and time, and the earth is being overrun with multiple versions of enemies the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-men fight. 

And it’s not going well. 

Until the heroes start falling out of the sky. 

Soon there are multiple Iron Men, War Machines, Black Widows, Hawkeyes, Hulks, and Thors landing on earth and falling in line with their counterparts and team mates. Hundreds of different X-Men and Human Torches lighting up the sky. There’s a Pepper Potts in a suit not unlike Tony’s and one that seems to burn with fire you can see under her skin. Pepper and Steve watch, somewhere between horrified, afraid, fascinated, and worried. Though Pepper, at least, has Tony’s voice surrounding her, reassuring.

There are iteration after iteration of Bucky Barnes and different versions of Captain America that don't wear Bucky’s face at all. Some are his friend Peggy, some are his friend Sam, some are men and women he doesn't know.

Steve sees… one other Captain America. He's the most impressive of them all, but this one. This one has his cowl off and he has Steve's face. He's surrounded by Buckys. And, he’s honestly not sure how he knows, but Bucky - _his_ Bucky- is right by his side. He realizes he knows it’s him because, while every Bucky has guns, only his has the shield on his back as well. 

They fight in sync. Shield after shield. Switching shields like they're of one mind. Bullets ricocheting off of shields and hitting intended targets. They’re an amazing team, and they capture the media’s attention. Steve goes from never seeing his Bucky to constantly seeing him, always with Captain America. Always right by his side.

After two weeks of it, Steve goes back home. He works for Pepper remotely and doesn’t pay attention to the news. He only knows it ends when the neighborhood cheers, when his neighbors pound on his door and tell him his boss is amazing. When he can’t escape the news of all of the heroes from every dimension coming to New York to try and figure out how to go home. When he’s summoned to the fourth of July party that’s no longer his birthday party, and is instead a celebration of knowing there are other worlds out there and they’re not unprotected.

Steve doesn’t bother to call anyone to tell them he’s not coming. He’s not up to human interaction, he knows, and he’s even more ill-prepared to see his face on the man Bucky clearly connected with. A man who, other than his face, is nothing like Steve. 

It’s easy to have a pity party instead of a birthday party when everything you always wished you could be appears and captures the attention of the man you’ve realized you’re in love with. Even worse when your friends don’t call and, when you finally t7urn on the news, you see them all atop Avengers Tower celebrating.

He turns off the TV and doesn’t bother changing, just crawls into bed in a t-shirt, his sweat pants and a pair of knitted socks Natasha had given him. He looks out his bedroom window just as the first firework goes off. 

“Happy birthday to me.”

**

“... don’t make me buy you another goddamned door!”

He wakes up to yelling and pounding on his door. Shoving his glasses on, he looks at the clock and winces. Hopefully everyone is still out partying, but nevertheless, he hurries to his door and doesn’t bother to look before he unlocks it. 

Fortunately he’s hanging onto the door when it shoves open, the force of it sending him back with it. Bucky is standing there in jeans and a gray henley that’s stretched tight across his chest. “What the fuck, Steve?”

“Keep your voice down! People are sleeping!”

“No. No. Even Mrs. McGimty on the top floor, who’s older than I fucking am is out partying;.Unlike you. What the fuck?” His voice is slightly lower that it had been, but still likely audible through the entire building. He grabs the door out of Steve’s hand and slams it shut, probably hard enough that Steve wont be getting it open again unless he unscrews the hinges. “It’s your _birthday_.”

“It’s three in the morning.” Steve smiles slightly, even though all he wants is for Bucky to stop yelling and let him go back to sleep. “It was my birthday.”

“Yeah. And there was a party in _your honor_.”

“No, it wasn’t, Buck. It was for all of you who saved the world. Even if I had been there, it wouldn’t have been my party.” He shrugs. “And that’s fine. If you’ll remember, I never wanted a party.”

“All your friends were there!”

“And I bet they had a blast.”

Bucky growls and grabs Steve by the shoulders, not quite shoving him against the wall and pinning him there. “Goddamn it - “

“It must have been weird. To see someone else handle the shield like you can. It was amazing to watch.”

“What?” Bucky looks confused, shaking his head. “What? Oh. Steve?”

“What.”

“Steve. I mean. Not you Steve. Him Steve. Captain America.”

Steve laughs, sharp and bitter and pained. “His name is Steve.”

“Of course it is.”

He nods. “Yeah. Of course it is.”

“How could it be anything else? It’s your name, isn’t it?”

Steve thought it was rough when he thought Bucky was going to start dating Steve Trevor. This feels like Bucky’s using every weapon in his arsenal directly on Steve’s heart. 

Bucky still looks perplexed and then his expression clears. “Steve. Hey. Look at me.” He frames Steve’s face with his hands. “His name’s Steve because he’s you. A different you. A you where everything that’s in here - ” He moves one hand to tap Steve on the forehead and on the heart, “ - manifested on the outside too.”.

“That’s really great. You guys should… I’m sure he’s…” 

“Jesus Christ,” Bucky snarls, He grabs Steve’s arms and lifts him until they’re eye to eye. Both of them are silent and still, and then Bucky crowds closer, holding STeve to the wall with his body as he kisses him.

Steve can’t help the noise he makes into the kiss. He wraps his legs around Bucky’s waist and Bucky moves his grip down to Steve’s ass. He cups it easily, like Steve’s ass was made for his hands, and deepens the kiss. Steve grabs Bucky’s shoulders, nails digging into his skin through the thin material of his shirt.

"Jesus Christ," Bucky says again, this time low and soft against Steve's lips. "Fucking finally." He kisses Steve again, adjusting his grip so he can hoist Steve higher, changing the angle as Steve is suddenly taller than him. 

Steve moans into the warmth of Bucky's mouth. He releases his shoulders so he can bury his fingers in Bucky's hair. Bucky groans quietly and pulls Steve away from the wall, heading in the direction of his bedroom. He shifts his grip on Steve and tosses him onto the rumpled bed, standing over him and looking down. 

Swallowing hard, Steve can't help but stare as Bucky tugs his shirt off, tossing it to the side. There are faint marks from injuries he must have sustained in the fight and the raised scar tissue around his shoulder, but Steve barely notices any of that, too focused on the broad expanse of Bucky's shoulders, of the defined muscles of his chest.

Bucky strips out of his pants and boxer briefs and obviously his shoes and socks because when he crawls onto the bed, he's completely naked. STeve's still staring, unable to look away. Bucky's hands skim their way up Steve's thighs pausing at his waistband. Steve swallows hard. 

"I need you to pinch me."

Bucky raises an eyebrow. "We should save the kinks for the second time at least."

"I need to know this is real."

Bucky curves his fingers under the waistband of Steve's sweats and tugs them down. Steve lifts his hips to help, and Bucky works them off one leg and then the other. Steve shivers, but he's pretty sure it's from the heat of Bucky's gaze and not the sudden cool air on his skin. Instead of pinching him, Bucky leans forward and presses a kiss to Steve's hip. "That's real."

"I've got a very vivid imagination."

"Do you make everything difficult?" Bucky tilts his head, obviously exasperated, as he looks at Steve. Before Steve can answer, he ducks his head again and, instead of another kiss, bites Steve on the hip. Steeve gasps and his hips jerk up. Bucky looks at him again, smirking this time. "Real enough?"

"It's really vivid." Steve manages to whisper.

Bucky moves back onto his knees and looks down at Steve, smiling in a way that makes Steve shiver again. "You are such an asshole." 

"That's not news - " Steve cuts off as Bucky grabs the waistband of Steve's boxer briefs and pulls them down, barely waiting until Steve's cock is free before he takes it in his mouth.

He's imagined Bucky's mouth on his cock more times than he'd ever admit, but none of it has been like this, been hot and wet and suction and the heavy slide of his tongue. Nothing has been the pure unadulterated heat of Bucky's breath where his nose is buried in Steve's pubic hair. Steve's imagination isn't _this_ vivid. 

"O-oh." 

Bucky hums around Steve's erection then slowly pulls back, watching Steve watch as his cock slowly slips out of Bucky's mouth. Bucky licks his lips. "Real enough?"

"If I say yes will you do that again?"

Bucky crawls up the bed and braces himself over Steve. "I want you to fuck me."

"Oh. Y-yeah. We can." Steve nods. "Yeah."

Leaning down, Bucky rubs the tip of his nose against Steve's. "I just want you to know that if something attacks or if the apocalypse comes, I'm not answer the phone."

"If you did, I'd brain you with your own goddamned metal arm." Steve grabs the arm in question and brings it up to his face, pressing a kiss where Bucky's pulse would be. Bucky sucks in a breath as Steve flicks his tongue out. It tastes like metal, but not, smooth against his tongue.

"F-fuck, Steve." Bucky's eyes flutter closed and Steve can feel Bucky's hand ball into a fist next to him. Steve licks again from his wrist to the middle of Bucky's forearm and Bucky shivers hard. He cups Steve's jaw with his hand and turns his head so they're looking at each other. Bucky's hair falls in a curtain around them. Steve reaches up and pushes some of it behind Bucky's ear.

Steve licks his lips, unable to look away from Bucky's eyes, the dark black of his pupils surrounded by a thin ring of silvery blue. "What do we do now? This is normally where we get interrupted."

Bucky's hand maneuvers Steve's head slightly, pulling it forward as he bends his own and brushes their lips together. "I will literally kill anyone who interrupts us at this point."

"More importantly, so will I." Steve smiles then closes his eyes as he kisses Bucky again. Where there's been antagonism and defiance, there's something soft and willing. No fight beyond the sharp nip of teeth, of the bruise of fingertips. 

Eventually they're breathless but keep kissing, messy with tongues and laughter. Steve rolls them over - well, he supposed Bucky lets him roll them over - and stares down at Bucky. There's nothing of the Winter Soldier or Captain America in him right now. He's completely Bucky, stupid and beautiful and staring at Steve like he's the same. 

"Stay right there."

Bucky frowns, his brow furrowing. His hands settle on Steve's hips as if he's going to hold him in place, but instead he keeps his grip loose, letting Steve crawl up far enough to get a condom and lube out of his nightstand. "I can't get anything. Give anything."

"God, shut up, Barnes." Steve kisses him again then pulls back, kneeling with his legs spread between Bucky's thighs. He rubs his hands from Bucky's knees to his hips, the hair rasping softly against his palms. His cock twitches against his left hip as Steve's fingertips brush against it. "Maybe I just want to have my first time with you be with Bucky Barnes, okay?"

It takes a moment, but then Bucky nods. "Yeah. Can I still tell you to hurry the hell up and fuck me?"

"Just for that, I"m taking my time."

"Haven't we already been doing that?"

Steve laughs. "Fair enough."

**

"Holy shit."

Natasha - a different Natasha - smirks. "Cap. Language."

He flips Natasha off then walks over to Steve and Bucky. "God."

Steve tilts his chin up defiantly. "What?"

"You look just like me."

"Yeah, yeah. I know."

"No. No. I… I looked just like you. Until I got a serum."

"And got microwaved." Another Bucky walked up behind Steve - Captain America - and smacked the back of his head. "Like an idiot."

Captain America reaches back and shoves Bucky away without looking. "God, Buck. Remember?"

"Yeah." Bucky's voice is soft, far less teasing. "Yeah. Scrawny little punk who's bark was worse than his bite, but that didn't stop him from biting." 

Steve looks down at the hand Captain America holds out to him. "Steve Rogers."

Steve glances up at Bucky - his Bucky. Jesus, this is confusing - but he's not looking at Captain America. He's looking down at Steve with a smile on his lips and bright in his eyes. Steve bites his lower hip then holds his hand out and meets a face less thin but otherwise identical to his own, right down to the broken nose. "Um. Same."

Suddenly they're surrounded by a whole group of Avengers and different Avengers. Tony Stark - a Tony Stark - leans in close to Steve and squints. "Huh. You ever know Howard Stark?"

"Um. No?"

"Ha. I already like him better than you, Cap." Tony steps back then Tony - his world's Tony. Fuck - fill the space he was in. 

"Is no one going to mention the fact that Barnes is doing that protective thing? Only now with touching?" He pokes Bucky's metal hand where it's resting on Steve's shoulder. "No one? Really?"

Bucky's hand snaps out and grabs Tony's wrist. He holds it for a long moment, eyes intent on Tony before he finally smiles and releases him. 

"Were they not together?" Bucky and Steve both look at Captain America as the Bucky behind him smacks him on the back of the head again. "Ow!"

"Were they not together?" Bucky does a horrible impression of him. "How long did it take for you to get your head out of your ass and realize you and I were in a relationship?"

"So," Steve says with a smile. "Are all those super villains alone in your regular dimensions?"

"Right! Exactly! We need to get all of you home before this gets any weirder."

"Not sure it can get weirder," Bruce - who apparently is some sort of mixture of Bruce and the Hulk all at once - says. "But let's not tempt fate, huh?" They all make their way to the roof, the ones in their own dimension standing back behind a machine that Tony's - or the Tonys - have concocted.

"You sure this will work?" Steve-who-is-Captain-America says.

"Absolutely."

"Not," Rhodey adds dryly.

"You're mean, Rhodey. Just straight up mean." Tony flips a switch, taps something on a flat board and brings up a vivid blue map. "All right, everyone. Say goodbye to your doppelgangers. No one sneak off into someone else's dimension. Having sex with yourself never ends well."

Before anyone can say anything, there's a flash of light and a portal opens in the sky, all of the heroes swept up in a streak of color, disappearing as the portal shuts, the sound reverberating loud enough that even the Tower shakes.

"Well." Tony dusts off his hands and looks back at everyone. "That was...Something." No one says anything and Tony finally clears his throat. "Anyone else need a drink?"

**

It's a few days later when someone finally approaches him. Bucky's been waiting for it, and he's not surprised when it's Natasha. 

"You want to talk about it?" She perches on the arm of the chair Bucky's sitting in. "I mean, I assume it went well, given the fact that you look like you finally got laid."

"How would you know what I look like when I've gotten laid?"

She raises an eyebrow at him. "Pretty sure you just made my point for me." She glances up at Steve who's across the room talking to Pepper. "I assume this is going to have absolutely no effect whatsoever on how stupid you both are?"

"We're not stupid."

"How many arguments have you had since?"

"None."

"Hey, Steve?" She raises her voice and Steve turns to her. "How many arguments have you guys had lately?"

"And do not tell us how you ended up settling them," Tony adds.

"Well, if he'd pay attention to his _schedule_."

"If you'd quit _changing_ it."

"If you'd show up for things, I wouldn't have to rearrange it. Why you can't follow simple instructions, I'll never know."

"Oh man," Clint groans. "I thought we'd have gotten past this."

"Really?" Tony asks."Maybe we need to just lock them in a room together."

"Last time that happened, he couldn't manage to get us out."

"Really? Rally? You're bringing that up?" Bucky gets to his feet and storms over to Steve. Steve puts his hands on his hips defiantly. "It's not my fault you worked for assholes and couldn't find the mail room!"

"I knew where the mail room was! I just got ambushed by a tank!"

"I saved your damn life!"

"Tony saved my life by getting us out of there!" Steve's eyes narrow. "Of course, then he ruined it by sticking me with you!"

"You had plenty of chances to walk away." They're glaring at each other, and Bucky can hear groaning, likely from Clint, in the background.

"I needed the health insurance!"

"You need a good spanking, you little brat." He grins at Steve then leans down, wrapping his arms around Steve's waist and slinging him over his shoulder, smacking his ass once. "So." Bucky turns and grins at the gathered group. "If you'll excuse us."

"Huh. Okay then." Tony says, just loud enough that Bucky can hear him as they walk away. "So. Anyone up for a movie?"


End file.
